Chapter 3

The Fox of Crank

Rated: T Probably lower but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Warning: none.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters used nor do I have any rights to the book I read to get the inspiration for these stories. The book "Phantom Animals" was written by Daniel Cohen.

A/N: This story will be a sort of crossover with Naruto. The characters given names should make them seem familiar to those that know Naruto but no real knowledge of that show is necessary. As with all of my stories this has no Beta, so please forgive (and/or point out) the errors that I might avoid or fix them in the future. Now, on with the ghost story.

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"Me next, me!" With his hands raised from Lenalee's shoulder and waving them like mad, Lavi really looked more like an ill-mannered puppy than anything else as he almost bounded to his feet.

"Fine, just get on with it," Kanda growled in irritation at his too familiar antics.

"This one took place in the early seventeenth century, during the superstitious and violent time reign of James I of England and witchcraft was considered serious business. Merely being accused of witchcraft would result in arrest, trial and punishment—often death.

"Anyone could be suspected of witchcraft but old women who were poor and lived on the fringes of society were particularly vulnerable. In the tiny village of Crank, in the county of Lancashire, there lived such an old woman named Tsunade. She was a foreigner, though no one seemed sure where she had originally come from. She lived in a little cottage alone, except for her grandson, a child named Naru. The old woman made a small living by concocting herbal remedies, which she sold to the villagers. Though the only potions she was known to have sold were medicinal, there were rumors that she also made poisons and engaged in other black arts—that in fact she was a witch. Most people in the village stayed away from her cottage unless they needed one of her remedies.

"Also living in the village at the time was a rather repulsive character named Jiraya, who was known to be both violent and miserly. When he came down with a seemingly fatal and incurable disease, he went to the old woman for one of her medicines. Though he paid what he considered an enormous amount of money for the potion, it didn't help. In fact, his condition actually seemed to get worse. Jiraya became convinced that not only had the old woman cheated him, she was actually trying to poison him with one of her witch's brews.

"According to a popular belief of the time, the best way to break a witch's spell was to bleed the witch to death. Jiraya enlisted the aid of a fellow in the village whose character was, if anything, worse than his own. Orochi, who made his living as a poacher, had actually been thrown out of the army because of his bad character."

"Why would being kicked out of the army make him a worse character?" Allen broke out of his mild trance to ask; knowing that unlike Lenalee Lavi would enjoy the interruption as it gave him a chance to show off his intelligence.

"Well, you see Allen; in those days the British army was filled with criminal types—and to be thrown out was an unusual and dubious distinction." Lavi stopped to see if Allen had more to question and seeing the comprehension on his face knew that he was safe to continue on.

"One night Jiraya and Orochi put on disguises and set out for the old woman's cottage. She was asleep when the two burst in so they dragged her from her bed and cut her arm, causing a gush of blood. The old woman cried out, and her grandson, Naru, who had been sleeping in the next room, awoke. He was badly frightened and grabbed his beloved pet fox for comfort. It was a very pale red fox with large slightly drooping ears. Clutching the fox, he went into his grandmother's room and saw the two men. They saw him too. Still holding the rabbit tightly, Naru turned and ran out of the house, with Jiraya and Orochi in hot pursuit. He disappeared over the crest of a hill, and when his pursuers got to the top they found only the fox. Swearing, Orochi killed the poor animal with a single kick. By that time, however, the boy was gone. Jiraya and Orochi decided that now that there was a witness they had better not try and return to the old woman's cottage.

"While they abandoned their plan to murder the woman they believed to be a witch, they still were responsible for a death. When Naru ran from the cottage in terror, he fell into a ditch and hit his head. The next day a farmer found his frozen body."

Lavi paused briefly as a strong gust of wind threatened to cause their fire to disappear. Looking at the others' faces after it calmed down he could only grin at what he considered an added bit of atmosphere and continue with his story.

"The only person who could possibly connect Jiraya and Orochi with the child's death was Tsunade. And though she suspected who the assailants were, she could not clearly identify them since they had been in disguise. Besides, few in the village would have been willing to take the word of a woman who was generally thought to be a witch, and a foreigner to boot. No matter how vile their reputations, Jiraya and Orochi were local men. After poor Naru's funeral the old woman moved from the village forever.

"There the matter would have ended, were it not for the small fox. Orochi was making his way home one day when he saw a fox lopping across the fields. Pale red foxes were not common pets in the seventeenth century. Indeed, Naru's pet was the only pale fox that most of the people of the village of Crank had ever seen. Orochi was absolutely certain that what he saw was the ghost of the fox he had killed just a few days earlier. He ran home and locked the door behind him. He was able to shut the creature out of his house, but not out of his mind. He began to avoid going out for fear of seeing the creature. The fox and the crime connected with it began to weigh heavily on his mind. After a few weeks he could take it no more. He described what he had done to some of his friends. The following morning he was found at the bottom of the local quarry. He had either jumped or fallen in, perhaps while running away from something.

"With one witness against him moved away and the other dead, Jiraya felt safe. But his health continued to decline. He became more sullen and miserable by the day. One night while he happened to be passing the old woman's cottage, he looked down and saw a large red fox trotting alongside him. The sight panicked him. He ran, but the fox ran too, easily keeping pace. When he stopped, the fox stopped. Terrified and desperate, Jiraya took off across the open fields towards his him, with the fox matching him stride for stride. A few yards from his home he collapsed with fright and exhaustion. His neighbors found him an hour or so later and took him inside. He lingered for about a week raving about a pale fox before he finally died."

As Lavi winded up his tale he could resist adding a further flair to his story, "even today people in the area say that 'the pale fox of Crank' can be seen on dark nights and it's considered very bad luck to catch a glimpse of this particular phantom."

"Wow, Lavi that was really good." Lenalee murmured.

Lavi couldn't help but to grin wider as he saw her grip her arms tighter whether from the cold or the story he was happy. Allen only nodded speechlessly and Kanda laughed out loud at Lenalee and Allen's obvious reactions.

"So," Kanda spoke smugly. "I guess that I'm next."

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A/N: This story was taken from "The White Rabbit of Crank" and there were many details that were changed. The old woman was actually unnamed in the original and the child was actually her granddaughter named Jenny. Jiraya's character was a man named Pullen while Orochi's character was a man named Dick Piers. Yes, I know that the character description for Pullen didn't really fit Jiraya but I wanted to keep the Sannin together.